Mangia Mondays:: A Patriotic Fruit Tart

Happy Memorial Day to all my United States of America compatriots!

Despite it's flaws, I feel so grateful to live in this country, and appreciate so very much all the men and women who serve the U.S. and protect our rights with their lives.  If you serve the United States in some way,

What a happy coincidence that Memorial Day takes place on Mangia Monday, a weekly blog hop I co-host with the delightful Kristin of Delightfully Dowling!

Are you heading to a Memorial Day BBQ today, perhaps?  If you're on dessert duty and need a quick idea, try this little number that doesn't require a lot of ingredients, is quick to make and shows your USA patriotism!

Did I mention it is oh-so-good?!?

Sour Cream Fruit Tart

Crust:

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (or 8 whole graham crackers, finely ground)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

6 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

2 t fresh lemon juice

1/2 t vanilla extract

Fruit of your choice:  strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and kiwi all work well.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Combine graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and melted butter.  Press mix firmly onto bottom and sides of 9" tart pan or pie plate.  Bake 8 minutes.  Cool.

Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Beat in sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla.  Spread in cooled crust. 

Arrange fruit on top and chill 4 hours if possible.  Serve and enjoy!

**To create star design, I used a knife to draw a star in the filling,

and then used blueberries to outline the star.

{I found that to make a good star, it was best to follow the line of each side, leaving out the middle, instead of outlining each tip.  My first version of a star looked really wacky and I had to take them off and start over!}

After outlining, I filled in the star with more blueberries and cut up strawberries.

 I have made and decorated this tart many times but today I googled "Memorial Day tarts" for holiday decorating ideas and came across oodles of lovely inspirations.  How simple it is to turn a dish into something special with just a little extra effort!

And um...did I mention this was super yummy???  Oh I did?  Okay then!  Onto the Mangia Mondays bloghop!

The scoop on Mangia Mondays:

• Add a link to your recipe or food post {not your blog homepage} & visit some others who have linked up before you!

• We appreciate you not linking to giveaways, other link parties or items you are selling.
• Link back by putting the Mangia Mondays button in your post or anywhere on your blog to let others know you've joined the party.
• Help spread the word about Mangia Mondays with others by sharing this post!
**You can add the Mangia Mondays blog hop to your own blog if you would like, simply clicking the link at the bottom that says "What is a blog hop? Get the code here..." and pasting the html into the bottom of your own post.